In the debates in social, economic, and political sciences on the diversity of capitalism, Asian capitalisms have been under-researched. Theories and concepts of the comparative capitalism approach have still to be applied to Asia and tested within these specific institutional configurations. The very nature of capitalism, its internal diversity, and its pattern of institutional change are questions that are especially fascinating to analyze for Asia. More specifically, the apparent lack of coherence and immense heterogeneity of capitalist production, regulation and the related institution building in the case of China, the different speed of changes in Japan and Korea despite seemingly similar institutional arrangements, the specific institutional structures of city states as Hong Kong and Singapore, the rapid integration of different models and levels of economic development within the “China Circle”, particularly between the P. R. China and Taiwan, and the idiosyncratic industrial specialization in India based on textile, IT or services such as call centers require a renewed analysis of institutional comparative advantage, and of various modes of capitalist growth .

The network will focus on the five areas (a) De- or Re-industrialisation? , (b) Innovation, HRM and Knowledge Creation, (c) Beyond Market or State?, (d) The future of Asian Capitalism, and (e) Welfare, Inequalities, and institutional change. Moreover, we are planning to have a section for PhD candidates and an additional special section for papers that do not fit into one of these categories but are nonetheless interesting contributions.

Hence, the basic idea of this first area network within SASE is to make Asia a central field of investigation for theories of institutional change and diversity of capitalism. In doing so, we expect to promote a fruitful dialogue between Asia specialists on one hand, and comparative capitalism specialists, including those working on other regions, on the other. We welcome papers focusing on Asian capitalisms and papers adopting a comparative perspective with other capitalisms.

Important information:

• How to apply: www.sase.org (Please note that you do not have to be a member to submit a proposal. However, you do need to create a login).Deadline for applications: Jan 15th 2012 for abstracts, June 1st for completed paper.

• The network will run a prize for the best paper on Asian capitalisms (amount: Euro 1000).

• This network is supported by Fondation France-Japon de l’EHESS (http://ffj.ehess.fr/), which funds the best paper award, travel grants, and student stipends on a competitive basis.